Fleet Street veteran David Montgomery sets newspapers in sights as he plots takeover spree
Veteran Fleet Street executive David Montgomery is poised to launch a media takeover spree, with struggling publisher JPI Media slated as his first major target.
Montgomery has set up a company called National World, through which he is said to be planning a series of deals to snap up struggling newspaper groups.
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Industry sources told the Daily Telegraph, which first reported the move, that National World will debut on the stock market via the reverse takeover of an existing private company.
Montgomery, a former News of the World editor and chief executive of Mirror Group, is said to be within days of announcing the new venture.
Sources said the media boss’s primary target was JPI Media, the newly-formed owner of titles including i newspaper and the Yorkshire Post.
JPI is currently in talks to sell some of its assets, with media group Reach among the bidders.
But one industry source told City PM that Reach had been “knocked sideways” by Montgomery, who has launched a “relentless pursuit” of JPI.
Former Reach chief financial officer Vijay Vaghela is also registered as an officer at National World, filings on Companies House show.
Vaghela served at the media group for almost 24 years, and was involved in Reach’s acquisition of Local World, a local newspaper group set up by Montgomery.
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The combined experience of Montgomery and Vaghela would make for a “formidable team”, the source said.
JPI Media declined to comment.
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